Shipping for a Better World: Think Inside the Box

You've created the World's Greenest Product, and you're shipping it off to your first big customer. You've made it from the most environmentally sensitive materials, using only renewable energy. It's the pinnacle of eco-friendly everything.

So what are you going to pack it in, cardboard or plastic? And how are you going to keep it safe: Styrofoam, newspaper, popcorn, peanuts, Crackerjacks?

The ins and outs of transport packaging is the latest topic of my monthly column in Grist. Last month, I reviewed the impacts of shipping by plane, train, and automobile (and by ship, of course). This time I look at the impacts of the actual packaging materials that companies choose.

Those who ship products confront a boatload of packaging options, when you consider both the outer container and the inner materials used to cushion goods and fill space. Much like the perennial grocery-bag dilemma -- paper versus plastic -- opinions abound about which combination is "best" -- and few of those opinions are conclusive.

Should you use a cardboard box instead of a plastic bag? How about shredded newspaper filler instead of foam "peanuts"? Logic might dictate that tree-based materials trump petro-based ones. But logic might be wrong.

So what's the best call when you're going green? The bottom line: It's the weight, stupid -- that is, the heft of the material, not its recycled content -- that most influences the environmental impacts of your bags and boxes.

Read on . . . .

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